The Cold Contestant
by Aubrie1234
Summary: Ikarishipping fanfic. Paul encounters The PokeDesrtuctor, a new villain in Sinnoh, and gets turned into a pokemon, alongside Gary and Drew! Will they be able to get back to normal? Includes Ikarishipping and Contestshipping. See inside for rest of summary. Rated T for some violence. Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.
1. Summary

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

**Dear Readers, this is my FIRST Ikarishipping fanfic, so give me some pointers if I do something wrong. And if you give me flames, I. DON'T. CARE. Oh, and I also give a HUGE thanks to two people and their fanfics: Foresthunter and her (I think) fanfic, _A New Species? _and whiterabbit90s fanfic, _Of People and Pokemon and other strange things_. They inspired me to write this story. It's where Paul somehow turns into a pokemon and (reluctantly) helps Dawn and her pokemon in her contests. She also asks Reggie to let her borrow some of Paul's pokemon to use in the contests. The story will start in the next chapter, so (famous comment from Dawn) "No need to worry!" Plus, I'm going to continue my stories soon and put up SEVERAL new ones! And please, give me reviews? I'm not asking much, just a few. PLEASE? (does puppy-dog eyes)**


	2. Chapter 1

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

**Dear Readers, the story starts NOW!**

The blinding light was hitting Paul's eyes. Why did the sun have to hit him in the face in the same place at the same time every morning? It was starting to get annoying, now that he was spending more time outdoors more than ever now. He had just gotten back to Sinnoh a week and a half ago and hasn't seen a town or anyone since then. He wasn't lost, was he? Paul definitely didn't get lost easily, so where was he? Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he got up and started to pack up his camping supplies had used last night. As he packed the sleeping bag away in his backpack, a small book fell out. He started to blush furiously as he picked it up. He thought he had hidden this a long time ago, back when he had left the Sinnoh League after Ash defeated him. That night was the last time since he written in it, let alone _seen _it. No one, not even his brother, knew about this book. It was his journal that he had started writing in when he had met Ash. His brother, Reggie had originally given it to him to draw and do things like that in it during his travels if he got bored. Even though he had never told him, Paul had done that, and even made it into his version of a diary. Before he put it back, he looked though it a bit. He saw his first drawing of tormenting Ash and his friends (where he was ordering his Elekid to shock them with a Thunder attack, and he smirked along side it) and a few of the entries he had made. He then stopped on the last two pages. There were the last two drawings and the last entry he had made in it right there, almost like they were looking back up at him. One drawing was of him and Dawn, kissing (which he blushed deeply at and turned away for a few seconds), the other was of him, Reggie, Ash, and of Ash's friends (that he knew of), together, smiling like they were the best of friends. But the drawings were just hopeless dreams. He would never show his feelings, they would never be his friends, and Dawn would DEFINITELY never kiss him. Paul sighed at the thought as he turned to and read the journal entry.

_Dear Journal, _it read, _I lost the league battle today to Ash. I lost, but I didn't criticize my pokemon and I didn't feel like I had lost. I felt...happy. It was like I was turning into Ash! But the main reason I didn't do either of those things was because...of HER. She had pierced a love arrow through me ever since we first met, but, it felt stronger after the battle. It was like I had let out everything I had, along with my love for her. He had traveled with her longer than she did with me, but she had stolen my heart. She tried to love him, but he had never even knew about it. He was so dense he didn't even know what love was! She still loves him, and treats me like I'm a jerk. I've hurt everyone with my attitude and words, even her. She has a right to call me a jerk. Everyone does. I-I feel like I want to change my ways, just for her. But I can't. I still have a reputation to uphold. But, if she and I ever get alone together, I'd ask. I won't be sad if she storms off, or says no, because I'll know I've at least tried. But, even if she says no, she'll still have my heart. Signed, Paul Shinji. _After he read it over and over a few times, he decided that, no matter what, he would find Dawn and tell her.

_I can't keep this affection bottled up much longer, _Paul thought as he sighed, _I love her, and I want to tell her what she means to me. She means more to me than ever before, now that I've read this journal entry again._ He then tucked the book back into his backpack, deeper than before so it wouldn't fall out again, and continued packing up. What he didn't notice, though, was that someone was watching him, looking for a chance to strike. As he slung the backpack over his shoulder after the packing was done, he had the strange feeling that something bad was going to happen soon. Paul thought it was just uneasiness from getting up, so he pushed the feeling away and started down the dirt path, unaware that the feeling might just be right.

About two hours later, he finally arrived in a town. The sign post on the edge of the town told him that this was Eterna City. He hadn't been here in a while, and decided to call up his brother before traveling back to Veilstone, his home town. He sighed at the pictures running through his head of what his brother would say and do once he called. It had been over a month since they had last talked, and Reggie was probably worried sick.

_Because he's my big brother, and cares about me. _Paul mentally sighed as he walked down the street. As he walked, he noticed that most of the businesses were closed for some reason. He then turned a corner to find the Pokemon Center, but it looked like someone had ransacked it. Graffiti of all colors covered the still intact walls while almost everything else was in huge chunks and pieces. There was also a note on the still intact (and surprisingly working) glass front doors. As Paul snatched it away, he read it.

_Beware, _it warned, _of the destruction of cities and towns because of me! I will stop at nothing until I get who I want, and what I want! This was just the first step, so watch-out, people and pokemon! Signed, The PokeDestructor. _Paul was shocked by this, even though he hid it well. Who was the PokeDestructor, and why did he attack the Pokemon Center? And who did he want? And why was Eterna deserted? Just as Paul rant these and other thoughts through his head, someone sneaked up behind him and grabbed him by the shoulders. As he swung around to face whoever it was while reaching for his Magmortar's Pokeball, he came face-to-face with...

**Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I wanted to try it to see how it worked! So please review, alright?**


	3. Chapter 2

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

**Dear Readers, the story continues!**

He came face-to-face with someone he had never met before. It was a boy that was as old as him or younger with spiked brown hair and had a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and a yellow and green yin-and-yang necklace around his neck. At the sight of the boy's angry expression softening at the sight of him, Paul relaxed, but only a little. Who was this guy and why did he just do that?

"I'm glad that someone is here besides me at least." the boy sighed as he let go of Paul's shoulders and started to rub the back of his head in embarrassment. "And you're not one of the PokeDestructor's henchmen, I can tell. Oh, and sorry about the scare. I was afraid you _were _one of the PokeDestructor's henchmen." He then held out his hand for Paul to shake.

"By the way, my name's Gary. What's yours?" he asked the purplette. Paul just walked past him and muttered while keeping his hand on his pokeball: "None of your business." Gary then came running up behind him.

"Hey! Why didn't you answer me? I could have easily blasted you away with one of my pokemon if you were a bad guy, ya know!" he said as he walked alongside Paul. "Besides, we might need to stick together, in case the PokeDestructor comes back. Now, what's your name?"

"Like I told you before, none of your business. And who's the PokeDestructor?" Paul asked him.

"I'll only answer your question IF you answer mine." Gary told him in a mocking tone. Paul then sighed frustratedly. This kid wasn't going to give him any answers if he didn't answer back.

"Fine. My name's Paul. Now, what about my question?" he asked the brunette. Gary's face saddened a bit before he continued.

"The PokeDestructor is a mysterious man who has been attacking the Sinnoh region at random places. His grunts are pretty powerful, too. You wouldn't want to tangle with them unless you _had_ to. But, his attacks have been mostly centered around Veilstone and-" Gary stopped as he turned back to Paul. As soon as Paul had heard the word 'Veilstone', he stopped in his tracks.

"Hey, you alright Paul?" Gary asked, walking back over to him. Lots of thoughts were running through his head, so he didn't hear Gary or notice him getting closer.

_Did he just say that Veilstone was the one getting hit by most of the attacks?_ Paul thought, _I hope that Reggie is okay... No!_ A voice yelled at him as he mentally slapped himself, _Stop worrying! You don't care about your brother, or anyone except for Dawn! _Paul then argued back.

_No! You're wrong! I care about my brother and everyone else! You're a liar and a cheater and a- _Paul was then shaken out of his mental battle by Gary, yelling: "You who! Earth to Paul! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I-I'm just fine..." Paul trailed off as he started walking again, Gary following close behind.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Gary then asked him. Paul then skillfully hid his shock, stuttering, and fear as talked back.

"Like I said, I'm fine." he told the brunette as he kept walking. Gary wouldn't give up, though.

"As soon as I said Veilstone, you stopped walking. Either someone or something is at that city that you're worried about. I've had lots of practice about this from a friend I used to know." Gary told him as they reached the route that led to Veilstone. They had also stopped to take a rest there as well. After he mentioned his friend, Gary chuckled a bit before continuing.

"Why are you so cold to me, Paul? I've apologized to you, told you about the PokeDestructor, and even walked with you all the way out here. Please, just tell me what's wrong. I promise I won't tell anyone." Gary pleaded, standing in front of Paul so he couldn't go any farther.

"I'm not going to tell you." Paul told him fiercely, trying to get past Gary, but to no avail.

"Then I'm not going to let you go past here until you tell me." Gary shot back stubbornly. Paul growled and then turned back to the city.

"I'll find another way out, then." Paul told Gary in a harsh tone as he started to walk back. He then suddenly felt a tug on his arm. As he turned around, he found Gary holding him back, looking into his eyes, anger filling both pairs.

"Let. Go." Paul ordered. But Gary held onto his arm firmly and didn't budge an inch. He then smirked.

"You didn't think I was going to let you go that easily, did you?" Gary told him, smirking even more. Paul then felt a blow to his head from behind, fell to the ground and blacked out, with Gary still smirking at him. What Paul had noticed before he blacked out was that their was something else around Gary's neck besides that necklace. It looked sort of like a metal collar. He had also noticed Gary's eyes flash a red color for a second before going back to brown as he stared him down. Both of those two things flashed warning lights and sounds off in his head, but he ignored them. They were wrong most of the time to him, anyway. But this time, they had been ignored by Paul when he had needed them the most.

**Another Cliffhanger! What will happen to Paul now? And is that the real Gary? And Paul really needs to listen to himself more, doesn't he? Find out the answers next time! Oh, and review, PLEASE! Oh, and another thing, if you want to know more about the collar, read my Generator Rex story.  
**


	4. Chapter 3

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

**Dear Readers, the story goes on!**

Gary snickered, thinking that this was just TOO easy! Drew had come up from behind Paul while he had been talking to Gary, and knocked him out cold! Their master had warned them to be cautious around him, because he was powerful. But he had fallen for this like a Butterfree being attracted to a pair of Carnivine! Oh, was this priceless! Gary then turned his gaze onto Drew, who was now cracking his knuckles. He did that almost every time had had fought, as far as Gary had known him. Which was as long as he had joined their master. Ever since he had joined, Drew had been a bit feral and ruthless, along with being quiet to everyone. Except for their master or in an emergency, Drew never talked. He either did sign language, hand signals, or shook his head in indication of something. Gary was the best at knowing what he was saying, so Drew got partnered with him a lot. Besides being in his normal clothes, like Gary, he also wore a silvery, metal collar around his neck. Out of everyone in the entire organization their master had made, they were the only ones with those strange collars around their necks.

"Do you want to take him back, or do I have to?" he asked Drew. He shook his head yes and grabbed the now unconscious Paul by the collar of his shirt, dragging him back into the town with Gary following right behind him. Gary looked around warily, afraid that someone else might be there with them as they walked down the deserted streets. Meanwhile, with Dawn, she was in the Hoenn region, practicing for an upcoming contest. Her Buneary was practicing jumping while doing its Ice Beam attack, for a new combination Dawn was thinking about using. Besides coming to the Hoenn region for more contests, she had also come to see May and Max for a while. She had visited Petalburg only to find out that May was in Verdanturf Town, training for the pokemon contest there. So Dawn had stayed at Petalburg to wait for May and to practice a few moves with her pokemon. Her newest combination she had thought up included Buneary's Ice Beam and Pachirisu's Discharge. The Ice Beam would cover several places on the field with ice, and Discharge would hit everyone, lighting them up. So far, the Ice Beam part had gone great. She just hasn't done the Discharge part yet. Besides waiting for May and practicing, Dawn had also talked to Max about how May was going. So far, she was doing good in the contests, until a few weeks ago. Around that time, Drew had disappeared. May wouldn't admit it, even though it was obvious, that she liked him. And with his disappearance, May had sulked and wouldn't move out of her room in days. Just two days ago, when she had left for the contest, was when she had finally managed to get out of her room and start thinking about contests again. After hearing that from Max, it just worried Dawn about how May was coping with this, especially now that she was practically alone (and with scary Harley sneaking around somewhere). As the past few day's events played through her mind, she continued the combination with Pachirisu using Discharge. It worked for a few minutes, but then the ice started to melt. And when it melts, it becomes water. And water DOES NOT mix well with electricity, so you can guess what happened. Dawn was in a bad mood as she stalked into the house, her hair sparkling like a diamond. As she walked past Max in the living room, she snapped at him to not say a word of this to anyone, or he would get it. With all of his past experiences with May, he knew better than to tell about this or let alone argue about it. Dawn then went straight up to the bathroom and fixed her hair with the blow-drier.


	5. Chapter 4

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

**Dear Readers, we are continuing the story! Don't worry!**

A bright light shined on his closed eyes. It was too bright to be sunlight, so what was it? He slowly opened his eyes, only to find he was laying down in some sort of cell. Something wasn't right. Why was he in this place? Then, all the memories of what happened before he was knocked out hit him like a tidal wave. All of those memories at once sent his head spinning and he had to lay back down on the cold, stone floor. As he took a look at his surroundings the best he could (because he couldn't move his head. It was still spinning and it still throbbed from the attack from behind), he noticed that there were small, barred windows on each side of the cell, near the top, with a lamp hanging from the ceiling. He then slowly and gently turned to the other side of the room that he couldn't see before. It was the same as the other side, but a pair of brown, cat-like eyes were starring at him from the barred window. He was a bit surprised and shot his head up from the ground, doing a gasp. Unluckily, his head still wasn't done hurting or spinning. He clutched it in pain, letting out a few whimpers.

"At least you're awake now." the thing that was looking at him said with an unusually familiar, but gruff voice, "But I would hate to be you when _he _finds out you're awake. Oh, and I'm very sorry about what happened before! _He _was controlling me, making me do it. I am still _very _sorry!"

"Who are you, anyway?" he asked, his voice gruffer than it should have been as well.

"Gary." the thing answered, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Wait! Does that mean that you're...?!" he growled back, rememebering what happened after he had last heard that name.

"Like I told you before, I didn't mean to! _He _forced me to do it!" Gary retorted.

"Who's _he_?"

"Our _master_, as he likes to call himself... bleck!" he could just imagine the gagging motions Gary was doing to indicate that. But then, Gary started asking questions.

"You told me your name was Paul, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can. If _he _were to get his hands on you... I really don't want to think about what he would do with you as his newest _addition _to the force..." Gary trailed off, looking away.

"What do you mean? Who's this _master _you're talking about?" Paul asked him. Gary quickly looked back at him and did a "shh!" before continuing.

"Please, be quiet! If he knew you were awake... well, I don't want to think about that. Anyway, the _master _I'm talking about is the one I told you about before." Gary answered him.

"The PokeDestructor..." Paul whispered, worry starting to kick into overdrive again.

"Yes. He wants you for a terrible reason, too. But I can't tell you what it is. It's just to horrible to even _think_ about..." Gary trailed off, uncontrollably shaking a bit. "Besides that, he wants to add you to the force he's making. If you think grunts are bad, he and his scientists are worse. Look what he did to me." Gary then held his hand and forearm through the bars. What Paul saw _actually _scared him for once. Gary's hand was covered in long, brown fur, with silver spikes sticking out of his forearm, and had silvery claws.

"W-what did he do to you?" Paul shakily asked, Gary withdrawing his hand. He then sadfully sighed as he continued.

"He turned me into some kind of wolf-creature, along with Drew..."

"Wait, you never said anything about someone else being here besides us!"

"I know. Drew was once a coordinator who was great and won the Grand Festival a few times. He also said he had a girlfriend, but that she's probably so worried right now she wouldn't be able to leave her own house. And I wouldn't blame her either. We've both been gone from our families for so long now, I can barely keep track."

"How long _have _you been here?" Paul asked the brown-eyed wolf-creature.

"About... a month." Gary answered. Paul was shocked. Reggie was already worried sick! If Paul stayed away much longer, he would probably send out search-and-rescue parties, along with asking the police to find him.

_Like a mother..._ Paul thought as Gary noticed him going to dreamland again.

"Hey! Paul! Snap out of it!" Gary told him. Paul then shook his head as he spoke.

"What happened...?"

"You zoned out for a minute there. I had to bring you back to earth." Paul softened his coldness a bit and mumbled a 'thank-you' before going back to coldness and asking him again.

"How long have I been here then? And where's Drew?"

"Hold it! One at a time, please! To answer your second question," Gary then pointed to the other wall Paul was looking at a few minutes ago and continued, "he's in there. To answer your first one..."

"Well?" Paul asked. He didn't like it where on the last part where Gary trailed off he had looked away.

"Five days." Paul was shocked at this. How hard had Gary hit him?

"And I was not the one to hit you in the head. Drew was. We were paired up to bring you here. And before you start asking how me and Drew were human, we made ourselves look like that. It's one of our special abilities. Another one is where we're able to talk like a pokemon if we want to, but I had better not trail off into that, shouldn't I?" Gary told him, practically reading his mind. Paul managed to regain his voice and answer.

"No, you should not..." Paul replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Anyway, I know you're absolutely NOT going to like this, but it'll be better if I show you before I start explaining..." Gary muttered to Paul as he turned away. A minute later (along with the sounds of growling and toppling stuff), he came back with a mirror. As he held out the mirror (he had to hold it up with his muzzle, though. HE HAD A MUZZLE! Paul was pretty shocked at that), Paul then knew what he was talking about. Just one look at what was in the mirror gave him shivers down his spine. He now looked like a giant werewolf-like creature with long fur, spikes along his spine and arms, a long tail, and giant, forest-green, bat wings that were almost as big as him. He also had a collar and chain around his neck, chaining him to the wall. The only things that told him he was even Paul were the ripped clothes covering his body, the purple fur, the purple, cat-like eyes, and the hairstyle on his head.

"Except for the fur color, the clothes, the eyes, and the hairstyle, I look exactly like you." Gary told him as he put the mirror away.

"This is not the time, Gary!" Paul growled angrily at him, "And how did this happen?!"

"I'll tell you." came another gruff voice from behind him. Paul turned around, only to be faced with light-green, cat-like eyes looking at him through the barred window on the other side of the room. His gaze was angry, but held sympathy and sadness to it as well.

"Are you Drew?" Paul asked, looking away from his gaze. Drew's gaze gave him shivers.

"Yes. And you were lucky I had hit you hard enough to where you were knocked out cold for several days, otherwise you would have felt all of that horrible pain..." Drew told him, looking away at the last part, "Besides, I was the one who had to bring you down there."

"Down... where?" Paul asked. He wasn't sure he should be bringing that up, but he wanted to know.

"The Lab." both Gary and Drew growled. Paul could tell they hadn't had a good time down there.

"What happened?"

"Do you _really _wanna know?" they growled in unison. Paul didn't back down, even though the drastic change in Gary's mood just by the mention of that place scared him.

"Yes." After a minute or so, Gary calmed down enough to tell him.

"Back on the second night you were here, Drew had been ordered to take you down there for some _tests_..."

"Which basically means changing you into the thing you are right now." Drew continued, his anger rising.

"We were knocked out before we were brought here, but not as hard as you were. We felt the pain after we woke up. You did not." Gary told him, straining to keep his voice under control.

"Get back to what happened, Gary." Drew growled at him.

"Right. Well, like the two of us, you got a shot and turned into that thing. You were lucky enough NOT to wake up." Gary told him. Paul then heard banging sounds and roars coming from Drew's cell.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked.

"Either he's having one of his fits or tantrums (which are _very_ dangerous), or that the PokeDestructor wants him for something. Probably the latter. And if that's the case, you would be better off asleep." Gary told him as the bangs and roars got louder.

"Why?"

"Because, if he finds out you're awake, he'll put the same metal collar around your neck like he did us and-" Gary never got to finish his sentence, though, because he started to roar and bang against the walls as well.

"Gary?" Paul asked. All he got in reply was a deafening roar from Drew. He then took Gary's advice and faked sleeping. He forced his breathing to become steady and his heart to slow down. He then heard silence coming from Drew's cell.

_Oh no..._ he thought as he heard silence start coming from Gary's cell as well. This was just going downhill more and more, wasn't it?

_**Review, please! And don't worry. Paul will meet up with Dawn soon. And boy, will Paul's pokemon get the shock of their lives after they find out what Dawn has in store for them...**_


	6. Chapter 5

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

It had been a few days since he had woken up, but he hadn't been able to hide from the PokeDestructor for long. It was his fifth day there, and now Gary and Drew were (unwillingly) dragging him to the main room using the chain and collar that had been strapped around his neck since the first day. As they passed other rooms, he glimpsed finely furbished rooms, complete with vanities and king-sized beds. As they entered the main room, he could have sworn that he heard Drew and Gary growl, but only for a second. Then they stopped, dropping the chain and heading to guard the entrances so that he wouldn't escape. As he looked around the new room he was in, he saw a human sitting on some sort of throne in the back of the room, looking at him with onyx eyes. The shadows were covering him, so all the purple wolf-creature could see were his eyes.

"Paul," the man muttered, then straightened in his chair, "I was wondering when I would get to see you awake." Paul just growled at the man, getting in a fighting stance.

"Now, now, no need to get nasty. You probably know I'm the PokeDestructor, right?" he told Paul, waving his hand. The purple wolf-creature didn't like him, but relaxed a little.

"Don't you want to know the reason I got Gary and Drew to bring you here, or are you going to give me the silent treatment?" Silence. "Alright then, I'll tell you anyway. You and those two are pretty special, do you know that?" Paul gave him a questioning look.

"Probably don't, but I won't tell you. And I also need to see if you want to join my cause and destroy the trainers, who are stealing pokemon from their homes and forcing them to battle!" He then slammed his fist on the arm of the throne before continuing.

"You'll probably disagree because of two things: One, I turned you into a pokemon. Second, you're also a trainer, just like those two." He then pointed to Gary and Drew, who were standing silently at the doors.

"But, I have a special way of _convincing _others. Especially pokemon." Then, he pressed a button on the arm of his chair, unlocking the collar, where it hit the ground with a loud and echoing 'thunk.' Paul knew he couldn't get away with those two at the entrances, so he didn't bother to run. It just made it easier for the PokeDestructor to do what happened next.

"Looks like you're smarter than the other two. But, just like them, you won't like this part." He then pressed another button, which brought mechanical arms out of the walls, which grabbed Paul around his sides. He roared and thrashed, trying to get them off.

"Now, here comes the hard part." the PokeDestructor said as he pushed another button. This time, a silver collar dropped from a trapdoor in the ceiling and fastened itself around the purple pokemon's neck.

_Oh, no..._ Paul thought as the PokeDestructor pushed another button, turning the collar on. As soon as he did, Paul started to hear a high-pitched screech from the collar, so he put his paws/hands over his ears. The sound hurt his ears like crazy. It also started to make him feel number and number.

_Stay alert, stay alert..._ he screamed in his head as he tried to get the collar off. After the collar was on, the metal arms had let him go, letting him have some mobility. One of his ways in getting the collar off was to hit the walls with his neck, trying to shake it off.

_Get...Off..._ he thought, his feelings growing even number. Then, he saw his vision start to turn red. He didn't see anything else but red, along with his hearing turning deaf. Soon, he felt the collar come off, then felt metal scraping along his claws.

_What's happening? _Paul then thought, feeling metal clack against his claws as he felt himself run. He didn't know what was happening. One minute, he was struggling to stay alert as the collar numbed his feelings, the next he was seen red and running somewhere. What was happening to him? He then felt air flow through his fur, then everything went black.


	7. Chapter 6

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

He couldn't see anything. When he tried to open his eyes, he only got a headache and blurry surroundings.

_What happened? I barely remember... _he thought. Since he had woken back up, he could tell something was happening. One, he felt himself being dragged. Two, he could tell from the colors he saw that he was somewhere green and brown, probably a forest. Three, he couldn't tell _who_ was dragging him, or where they were going. Four, his feelings had come back, but his ears were ringing like crazy, so he couldn't hear anything. As he was dragged, he had a few flashbacks of what had happened. He unconsciously growled at a few of them. When he growled, he felt the dragging stop. But when he didn't growl again for a while, the dragging would start up again. After a few minutes, his ears were starting to stop ringing, so he could tell someone was talking. He strained to listen.

"He hasn't growled for a while now. Do you think he's..." one asked, his tone trailing off frighteningly.

"No! We just have to find a Pokemon Center or Hospital. As long as I'm here, I _won't_ let him down." another growled back.

"I know you won't. I wouldn't either, after what he did for us." the first one told the second.

_What did who do for them? Who are they talking about? _he thought. After a few more minutes, he decided to try opening his eyes. It was a bit blurry at first, but then he could tell he _was_ in a forest, and that two others _were_ dragging him somewhere. But _why_ did they sound so familiar? He tilted his head a little to get a glimpse of who was dragging him, and also felt the dragging stop. He then accidentally looked at the sun and had to close his eyes. When he opened them again, two big shadows were standing over him. One had brown eyes, while the other had bright green eyes. He then realized why the voices sounded familiar.

"Gary? Drew?" he managed to choke out. His throat felt really dry, now that he noticed it. He also felt so weak, he could barely talk, let alone move.

"Whew! We thought you were a goner for a second there, Paul! Thank you for saving us!" Gary said, his eyes showing gratitude and relief.

"Save you? From what?"

"You mean, you don't remember?" Drew asked, his eyes filled with a questioning gaze.

"No. That last thing I remember is struggling to stay awake from that horrible noise, then my hearing went deaf and all I could see was red. After that, I felt metal under my claws, then air flow through my fur. Then everything went black. What happened?" Gary and Drew exchanged a worried glance before answering.

"Well, you were trying to get the metal collar off, and your eyes turned from purple to red. After that, you ripped the collar in two, then broke ours." Gary explained.

"Then, you ripped the wall away and ran down the corridor behind it. We followed you, then saw you knock another wall down. That wall lead to the outside. You jumped through it, and we followed. Afterwords, we were knocked out, but soon came to." Drew continued.

"I saw that I was the first one to wake up. I looked around and saw that we had fallen down three stories from the broken wall. While I was looking around, Drew woke up. After I explained what had happened to him, just to make sure I wasn't imagining it, we noticed you hadn't woken up yet. We knew that the PokeDestructor would be after us, so we dragged you all the way here." Gary finished.

"Oh, so that's what happened."

"Pretty much." Drew told him. Paul then started to feel dizzy and lightheaded.

"Paul? Hey, Paul! Stay awake!" Gary shouted, shaking the purple wolf-creature. But Paul soon blacked out, leaving them with another wolf-creature to drag once again.

"No good. He's blacked out. Besides, I need to rest from carrying him, and so do you." Drew told the brown wolf-creature, shaking his head.

"I know, but we can't stop. The PokeDestructor might not be far behind us... Wait! I've got it!" Gary then said.

"What is it?" Drew asked.

"One of us needs to go out and find a pokemon trainer to help carry Paul to a nearby Pokemon Center or Town. And I suggest _you_ do it." Gary said, pointing at the now sighing Drew.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because, you have a better chance of tricking someone or ticking them off so that they come here. Besides, someone needs to stay here with Paul, and since I have knowledge of medicine and first aid, that means I have to take care of him until you come back." Gary explained knowingly, hitting points that Drew couldn't argue at. He sighed again, before answering.

"Alright, I'll go. But don't expect me to be back soon." He then ran off down the path, keeping a careful eye out for trainers.


	8. Chapter 7

The Cold Contestant

By: Aubrie1234

Soon after Dawn got her hair fixed, she decided to go after May. She said goodbye to Max and his parents, then started on the road to Verdanturf Town, where May's contest was supposed to be. Two hours later, she bumped into May, who was heading home after she got another contest ribbon.

"Wow, May! You got another ribbon! I'm so happy for you!" Dawn told her, eyes sparkling at the ribbon.

"Thanks, Dawn, but I don't feel at all happy with it." she answered, putting her ribbon away. Dawn gave her a questioning look before asking.

"Why aren't you happy, May? I thought you loved contests!"

"I do, Dawn, but... I don't feel like my old self anymore now that Drew's...missing. Every time we competed against each other I felt so happy and cheerful. But now that he's missing, it feels like my flare won't come back until he does. Dawn, I think... I love Drew." Dawn covered her mouth so that she wouldn't scream with joy. She knew something was going on between those two by how May always talked about him, but now she knew.

"I knew it! The way you always talked about him gave me an idea that you liked him, but now its become more than that! Once we see Drew again, You can tell him and-" She was cut off by a green blur flashing past her and May. After it was gone, she noticed May's green bandana was gone as well. May must have felt it too, because she put her hand up to where her bandana was supposed to be. When she didn't feel it, she looked around for the pokemon that had flashed by them. She turned around and spotted the pokemon, which looked like an emerald-green wolf with the same color eyes. It held her bandana in its mouth and was just standing there, looking at them expectantly. May didn't reach for her Pokedex to identify the pokemon, but instead ran at it, yelling: "Hey! Give me back my bandana, you pokemon!" It just smirked in a familiar way and ran down the path, stopping for a few seconds several times to wait for May to catch up before running again. Dawn just chased after the two of them, huffing from the running.

"Where are you going?! I need my bandana, so give it back!" May yelled, chasing the pokemon at a full-out run now. It smirked even more before running ahead into the thicker part of the forest.

* * *

Drew ran with May's bandana clutched between his teeth. She and another girl were the closest pokemon trainers to Paul and Gary, plus he didn't have much of a choice. Paul was running out of time. When Drew came back a few minutes ago to check on them, Gary had a grave expression on his fur-covered face.

"I couldn't find anyone, Gary. How's Paul?"

"Not doing so good." he answered, shaking his head, "He's in much more pain than I first thought. He used up lots of energy earlier to get us out and he barely has any left. If you don't find help soon, he might not survive." Drew was shocked at this news. He then ran off as fast as he could, searching for anyone to help. Soon, he came across May and the other girl he didn't know, and stole May's bandana. He didn't want them to know it was him, Drew Hayden, so he just tricked them instead. He was also now glancing back to see May still charging after him and the other girl following behind. He then stopped. He knew they were close enough now for him to just walk without May getting close enough to beat him to a pulp. As she got closer, he calmly walked ahead, turned a corner, and sat down, looking back at her patiently.

* * *

May and Dawn soon caught up, and gasped at what was behind the green wolf-like pokemon. A brown wolf-like pokemon had one of his paws on the purple wolf-like pokemon with a pained expression on his face, then looked to them sadly. The green one padded up to May and gave her back her bandana before padding over to the brown one and giving a worried glance at the purple one, who was taking in shaky breaths and whimpering slightly. Then, both the green one and the brown one gave Dawn and May sad and tearful looks.

"You wanted us to follow you so that we could help your friend?" Dawn pieced together. The green one nodded then turned back to the purple one, who gave out another soft whimper. May slowly walked over and crouched down, petting the purple one. He let out a whine as she did that. May then looked up and into the eerily familiar eyes of the green one.

"We'll help get him to a Pokemon Center, but you and your other friend have to guide us to the closest one, alright?" she told them. He then glanced at the brown one, who nodded his head in approval before speaking a few words to the green one in Poke-speak.

* * *

"**Did you see any Pokemon Centers while you were searching?**" Gary asked him. (To May and Dawn, it sounded like: 'Gareoak gare oakgare?)

"**Yeah, I saw one, but it seemed too far away for me to get to it in time.**" Drew answered. (To M & D: 'Drew, dendrew, drewden drew drew.')

"**Well, we need to go anyway, for Paul's sake.**" Gary told him. ('Gare, oak gareoak oak.') Drew nodded as he turned back to May.

* * *

While the two pokemon were talking, May and Dawn brought out their Pokedexes and tried to see what the pokemon were. It only came up as unidentified. They both sighed as they put back their Pokedexes. Then, the pokemon stopped talking and turned back to them.

"Are you going to guide us?" May asked the green one. He nodded. Then they both got up, walked farther down the path, and stopped, looking back at them and waiting.

"Don't worry, we're coming." May called out to them, getting out a pokeball. She then threw it in the air and called out: "Come on out, Venusaur!" There came a bright flash of light, then her Venusaur appeared.

"Venusaur, could you use your vinewhip and help us get this pokemon (points to the purple wolf-like pokemon on the ground) to a Pokemon Center? Those two pokemon (points to the green and brown ones) will lead us, so follow them." she explained to her pokemon. It calmly complied and followed the other two pokemon, with Dawn and May following them.

"May, do you think that pokemon will be alright?" Dawn asked as they walked.

"I don't know, Dawn, but that green pokemon seems _so_ familiar somehow." May answered, eying the green wolf-like pokemon.

"Maybe it's Deja vu. Like where you think you might have seen something before, except you haven't. I get it sometimes when I'm in the forest, so it's not a big deal."

"To you it might be, but that pokemon seems familiar. Remember it smirking at me when I chased it?"

"Yeah, but what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that his smirk seems a lot like Drew's smirk. And, if it flips the fur on its head, I swear it will _have_ to be Drew! No-one else I know does it!" Dawn just sweatdropped at her friend.

"I think you're overreacting, May. There's no way a human could become a pokemon, you know that!"

"I know, Dawn, but..." she trailed off, tears starting to form in her eyes. Dawn turned to her and patted her on the back reassuringly.

"Don't worry, May. Someone will find him. Besides, we're almost at the Pokemon Center." she told her near-crying friend while pointing to the Pokemon Center ahead of them in the now-afternoon light. When they got there, Nurse Joy and her pokemon instantly got the purple pokemon on a stretcher and brought him back to the emergency room. The other two were worried but didn't go after him. To stop herself from crying, May went over and started to scratch the green one right behind his ears. He got a blissful look on his face and almost instantly got on the ground, slightly purring. May giggled and scratched him more, making him roll onto his back and go into all-out-purr mode. She laughed some more before scratching his tummy, making him even happier.

* * *

"**Ahh, ahh, right there, May. Yeah, _that's_ the spot. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Now on the chest please. Oh, that's good, mmm...**" Drew purred in Poke-speak.

"**Now I don't know _what's_ worse! You with May scratching you, or Paul while he's injured!**" Gary laughed, smiling.

* * *

While May scratched the green one, Dawn snuck over to the unsuspecting and laughing brown one. She then mercilessly scratched him, making him stop laughing and do the same as the green one with a happy and faraway look on his face.

* * *

"**Ooh, _that's_ the spot, Dawn. Ahh, ahh, good girl. Now, could you do my left side? Ahhh, that's _great_! Mmmm, ahhh...**" Gary purred.

* * *

Soon, Nurse Joy came out.

"Your friend is going to be just fine, don't worry. But he was very exhausted. How did he get that way?" she asked the two coordinators.

"We don't know, Nurse Joy." May replied, shaking her head, "These two pokemon just led us to their friend and asked us to bring him here. We don't know how he got so exhausted."

"Hmm... Well, just give him a few day's rest and he should be fine. By the way, are any of these pokemon yours?"

"No, they're all wild pokemon." Dawn answered.

"Well, they seem to like you both. How about all of you stay the night?"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. We'll go once we get these two to stop purring." May laughed, finally taking her hand away from Drew's fur.

* * *

"**Ohh, that's the- Wait, where did all the scratching go?**" Drew asked, coming out of his blissful trance-like state and looking around.

* * *

Dawn then let go of Gary as well.

* * *

"**Mmm, nice spot, Da- Wait, why did you stop?**" Gary questioned her, also snapping out of his trance-like state.

* * *

Both coordinators giggled at the pokemon's confused expressions before telling them what Nurse Joy had told them. They nodded and quickly went down the hall that went to the rooms, probably trying to find a room for the coordinators.

* * *

"**I can't believe it! Dawn actually _scratched_ me into _submission_! Ugh, that it _so_ humiliating!**" Gary huffed as they walked down the hall.

"**Well, at least they don't know it's us yet. Now, let's find a room for them. I want to find May's room for her because she gave me such a good scratching...**" Drew trailed off, getting a faraway look in his eyes.

"**Uh, Drew? Look out for that-**" Gary tried to tell him, but Drew just ran straight into the wall, "**-wall...**"

"**Oww...**" Drew said, rubbing his nose.

"**Hey, I _tried_ to warn you. But I guess you didn't hear me, did ya?**" Gary asked, smirking. Drew turned to him and growled.

"**No, I didn't _because_ I was thinking about that good scratching they gave us!**" he told Gary, then turned and started back down the hallway, "**Now, let's go find those rooms.**"

"**Alright, alright!**" Gary said, running up to him.

_Yeesh, he's grumpier than Paul now! _Gary thought as they walked.


End file.
